Work

On English Language Learners’ Prosody: The Possible Impact of L2 Aptitude, Musical Ability, and Proficiency on Nuclear Accent Placement in Spanish L1 Contexts

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Although the literature has recently recognised the significance of suprasegmental features in L2 English perception and production, nuclear accent (NA) placement remains partly terra incognita (Landblom & Ionin, 2022; Nagle & Baese-Berk, 2022). Thus, this study examined the extent to which Spanish L1 learners of English can perceive and produce English NA placement. A total of 53 participants completed NA placement perception (listening and identification) and production tasks based on utterances in unmarked and marked contexts. Also, the role of L2 aptitude, musical ability, and L2 proficiency was analysed using three standardised tests: the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), the Musical Ear Test (MET), and the Cambridge Placement Test. The results indicate that L2 aptitude was a weak predictor, whereas musical ability, specifically rhythm sensitivity, strongly predicted NA placement perception accuracy across the different sentence types. This effect was positively moderated by English proficiency. The study deepens our understanding of the perception-production link and supports the inclusion of prosodic training in L2 English acquisition.

Source: Language Teaching Research Quarterly

DOI: 10.32038/ltrq.2026.55.04

Authors: Christopher Felipe Barra–García, Mauricio Véliz-Campos, Mauricio A. Figueroa Candia, Yasna Pereira-Reyes, Mackarena Kartsevski Dune

Institutions: University of Concepción, Universidad de Talca

Language: English

Topic: Phonetics and Phonology Research

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Universidad de Concepción, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo